1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cap closures for sealed containers and, more particularly, to such a closure having a two-position cap assembly providing visual and physical indication of unauthorized or attempted entry into the container.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the past, it has been the conventional practice to store a variety of items such as tablets, pills, capsules or the like in screw-on containers such as bottles utilizing a threaded cap engageable with a threaded container neck. A compressible sealing disc may or may not be attached to the inside of the cap. There are instances when the sealing disc omitted, especially if the cap is made from a plastic material and encloses dry goods such as pills and capsules. A sealing disc is mandatory for caps used on containers holding liquids or wet materials and is usually used in caps made from metal. In other instances, an additional seal is used in the form of a thin paper disc or metal foil wherein the seal is fixed to the rim of the container neck requiring removal in order to gain access to the contents. Furthermore, so-called "child proof" caps have been used to seal potent contents that employ cap assemblies utilizing a form of basic, inner cap and in addition incorporates a freely rotating, concentric, outer part that is used to engage and unscrew the basic cap part.
Although the above prior cap assemblies have been effective for sealing and somewhat restricting entrance to the contents of a container, difficulties and problems have been encountered which stem largely from the fact that no indication is presented which would signify unauthorized entrance or an attempt to gain entrance to the contents. In many instances, container caps have been removed and adulterating substances have been placed inside the container followed by reassembly of the cap closure so as to hide or conceal the adulterating attempt. Once the cap closure has been returned to the container, neither mechanical, physical nor visual indication is provided which would alert a subsequent user to the fact that a supposedly unopened container has previously been opened.
Therefore, a long standing need has existed to provide a novel cap closure for screw-on containers indicating that the cap closure has been removed by persons who may have tampered with the contents and then replaced the cap on the container. Such a cap closure means should not only be physically discernible to subsequent users of the container contents but should include visual indication for ready identification of the cap and container condition.